LITTLE BOY You're the Devil!
DEVIL That's correct
Devil pulls his wheelchair right up next to boy.
Little boy And who are all these other people?
DEVIL They're me, they're you! Who Cares! Presents! It's time
for presents! Yea!!!
The music starts. During this each of the 5 characters whom LITTLE
BOY has met in hell goes LITTLE BOY and extracts an object then
presents it to the DEVIL. The objects are, as follows:
The MINISTER: the apple
OFFICER FRIENDLY: the key
THE CLOWN: the flowers
THE PROFESSOR the book
PETRA: the spinning toy
DEVIL And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, or at
least I have. The deal. The soul, Nurse Jane.
NURSE JANE goes to LITTLE BOY and extracts the CLOCK.
DEVIL
Will you willingly give it to me
LITTLE BOY I can't. I need it.
NURSE JANE hands it back to the boy
Little Boy Goes to Hell by Mark Nichols June 5th, 1998
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© Copyright 1998 by Mark Nichols 55 http://www.ReallyBigProductionCo.com
Devil Well, I guess It means that I'll give you another one
Little boy Whose?
Devil Well, you can chose.
Little boy What if I like mine?
Devil Well, I just think I need it more than you. Nurse Jane.
Nurse Jane goes to LITTLE BOY and takes the clock again. She
hands it to the DEVIL
LITTLE BOY No that's mine! You can't have it.
Song Starts
Devil Little boy, this place has everything
You can be anyone
Pick a soul, any soul
stay awhile, and have some fun
There are so many people to chose from
And more are coming each year
They swarm in droves they flock in herds
they come in herds
they love it here,
The crimefighters, criminals, cowboys and Indians,
grandmothers, grandfathers, puppies and popes!
Narcisstic Nincompoops, dimwits and diplomats,
bubblegum bippies and bimbos with bangs,
fanatics and liberals, wigs and republicans,
communists Bolsheviks, moaists, and monks
and housewives and hogfarmers and highbrows and hobos
and hippies and yippies and yuppies and tots!
and they're ALL HAVING FUN!!
Sit up Spanky!
Sit it up and look around you!
the little birds still sing,
the bread still rises,
the cookie still crumbles,
and the soul sours swiftly
toward that which we go now,
DEVIL (Cont…)
the past collides with the future
Spinning, spinning
SHOUTING THAT GLORY HALLELUJAH!
Which is
The twisted fate of causal interaction
Post neo-modernist nasal drip
Spilling like blood from our souls
Little Boy Goes to Hell by Mark Nichols June 5th, 1998
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© Copyright 1998 by Mark Nichols 56 http://www.ReallyBigProductionCo.com
Onto the pools of our navels
As we stare,
And we cry,
And we live,
And we love,
And life
Goes
On.
Little boy I think I'd rather just keep my own soul.
The music starts again
Devil
Choices, choices are the only things of importance. Life is a maze of
choices, a massive criss'crossing of maybes and ifs. I'm giving you
ONE CHOICE, and I'm making it as simple as I can one choice, One
question--make the choice. What’s it gonna be?
LITTLE BOY I don't know. Do I get to go home?
DEVIL Of course, anything.
LITTLE BOY I can be well again?
DEVIL Anything.
LITTLE BOY My mom will come and get me?
Underscoring ends. Everyone is quiet.
DEVIL Yeah, sure, kid.
PSYCHIATRIST you have to be honest!
DEVIL I don’t have to be anything!
PSYCHIATRIST That's not fair!
DEVIL What’s fair? None of this is fair. This game is fixed and
you know it. I’m not going to win anyway, so who cares how I play.
Nobody cares.
PSYCHIATRIST That’s crap! Tell him the truth!
DEVIL Why should I?
The MOM comes forward as the witch.
MOM I care. Tell him the truth!
DEVIL I can't!
MOM Tell him!
Little Boy Goes to Hell by Mark Nichols June 5th, 1998
______________________________________________
© Copyright 1998 by Mark Nichols 57 http://www.ReallyBigProductionCo.com
DEVIL Tell him what, Mammy? You never told me. You never
explained it to me.
MOM How could I?
DEVIL You never came back, Mammy…
MOM May I take this off? Please! Let me take this off!
He nods and She takes off her hat. She goes to him.
MOM I couldn't come back…you know I couldn’t. Sometimes
people can’t come back.
She takes off her witch's nose. Psychiatrist has freed LITTLE BOY
who runs to MOM.
MOM I didn't want to leave you ever. How could I have known?
PSYCHIATRIST Let them go home now.
DEVIL I don’t want to. It’s still my turn. Kid, come here.
LITTLE BOY goes to the DEVIL. The DEVIL puts the kid on his
wheelchair.
DEVIL This is all yours now. I’m giving it to you. Stay here.
LITTLE BOY But I don't want to stay here. I want to go home.
DEVIL This is your home now. You can make it whatever you
want it to be.
LITTLE BOY But I want to be with my mom. (Runs back to MOM)
DEVIL That’s not how the game ends, kid. You don’t get to go
home with your mom.
PSYCHIATRIST He can if you let him. This is your hell we’re
talking about.
DEVIL Then he stays!
MOM Let us go!
DEVIL I won’t.
PSYCHIATRIST You have to let them go.
DEVIL But then I lose.
PSYCHIATRIST That’s not true.
DEVIL It’s a trick.
PSYCHIATRIST It’s the only way out.
Little Boy Goes to Hell by Mark Nichols June 5th, 1998
______________________________________________
© Copyright 1998 by Mark Nichols 58 http://www.ReallyBigProductionCo.com
MOM You have to let us go!
PSYCHIATRIST You have to let them all go. You have to free
them now, before it’s too late.
DEVIL Too late for what? I want to eat, I want to sleep, I don't
like life, who gives A shit!
PSYCHIATRIST Listen, Spanky! This is your life. Change it now
or go back to square one and start all over again?
DEVIL What if it doesn’t get any better?
PSYCHIATRIST What if it does?
The DEVIL thinks, trying to find a way out.
Resigned, he turns to LITTLE BOY and MOM.
DEVIL Take your mom and go. Quick.
MOM turns and begins to exit with LITTLE BOY, then turns back and
goes to THE DEVIL giving him a kiss on the forehead. They look at
each other for a moment. LITTLE BOY stops, turning once again to
the DEVIL.
LITTLE BOY slowly crosses and holds out the CLOCK to the DEVIL.
LITTLE BOY You said you needed this more than me.
I don't need it anymore.
The DEVIL takes the CLOCK Slowly. LITTLE BOY and MOM exit
slowly through the spiral. There is a beat as the DEVIL takes it all in.
PSYCHIATRIST You win.
PSYCHIATRIST turns and goes upstage. The DEVIL sits
holding the clock. Music enters quietly. The crowd comes
down to surround him.